(Cedar Falls, IA) — Audubon will try to climb the next hill and that is the number one ranked team in 8 Man football Bishop Garrigan in the Semifinals on Wednesday morning, coverage on KSOM.
The Wheelers stunned #4 Iowa Valley on the Tigers home field 26-19 in the quarterfinals to advance to the UNI-Dome. The next challenge will be just as big if not bigger. Garrigan has been steady all season long. They run a simple I formation offense and they run it well. And they are big. Audubon Head Coach Sean Birks says when you look at this Golden Bear football team their size and physicality jumps out the most
Garrigan is led by 230 pound Senior running back Ethan Marso with 1,212 yards rushing with 25 rushing TD and Senior QB Tate Foertsch with 942 yards rushing and 16 TD plus 1,121 yards passing, 22 TD and only one interception. Both teams like to run the football but Birks says they do it in different ways
While there are differences on offense, it might be the opposite on defense. Last week, Audubon faced an aggressive Iowa Valley defense that had over 100 tackles for a loss. Garrigan has about half that at 57.5 but they will bring you down on the spot. They have a balanced tackle chart and Birks says they know how to hit you
Bishop Garrigan has only been in 8 Man football for the last four years. They lost in the Class A finals to Gladbrook Reinbeck in 2016. After going 2-6 in 2020, they made the switch and Head Coach Marty Wadle (pronounced Wawd-lee) says it was an adjustment but they have tried to keep things simple
Audubon is led by Sophomore QB Aiden Kjergaard with 1.418 rushing yards with 32 TD and 772 passing yards, 12 TD, and zero interceptions plus Sophomore Tailback Mason Kasperbauer with 799 yards and 15 TD. The Wheelers also have a tough hard nosed defense where Wadle does not see many weaknesses
Wadle says that this is a football game between two evenly matched teams and he hopes his team can meet the challenge
#5 Audubon is 11-0, #1 Bishop Garrigan is 11-0, Game time is 10:00 am, Pre-Game is at 9:30 am on KSOM.
The other 8 Man semifinal is scheduled at 1:00 pm between #2 Woodbine (10-0) and #3 Gladbrook Reinbeck (11-0).
Complete Interview with Audubon Head Coach Sean Birks
Complete Interview with Bishop Garrigan, Algona Head Coach Marty Wadle
